Customer Reviews

Very Truly Yours

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In London, the note from Lord Abington shakes up Jack Fairchild. Scandalizing the family name with his suicide apparently was not enough for Jack's father. He also left his son with a debt of three thousand pounds besides a failing tea company. If Jack fails to pay back Lord Abington, he will go to prison. Unable to idly await his fate, Jack decides to use his law degree to earn money in the countryside.

Jack reaches Middledale where he meets Liza Cranshaw, a young lady who once caught his fancy almost a decade ago. He accidentally obtains a letter that shows her fiance, Lord Barrington, is forcing her to marry him. Unable to once again sit idly by, Jack intercedes, but soon falls in love with Liza. She returns his deepest feelings just as she has since he kissed her in London eight years ago. However, he has no future beyond debtor's prison and she has a dreary future with Barrington.

VERY TRULY YOURS is a warm historical romance that will please die hard fans of the sub genre. The story line never veers from its path as Jack the hunk and Liza the beautiful innocent try to overcome impossible obstacles so that love can flourish. A loyal secondary character provides a powerful often-amusing spark to the plot. Julie Beard proves she is a talented author by making a by the rules novel interesting for those readers who take pleasure from an amiable tale.

Harriet Klausner

After reading the previous reviews I wasn't sure I wanted to try this book or not. Reviews seemed to be very good or very bad. I enjoyed the story. Its not necessarily a 'keeper' but I did enjoy it. I did wish that the reasons for the blackmail would have been a little clearer and maybe given in bits and pieces a little earlier in the story.

I've read other Julie Beard books and love her work. Her name and the 5 stars is what made me buy this book ... but how this ever got 5 stars, I'll never know. The story was totally foolish -- a young lady decides not to marry because of one wonderful kiss - if she can't find a passion like that, then she'll have nobody?? COME ON!! And the "hero" doesn't remember this wonderful kiss at all until he kisses her again and then it all comes back to him? YEAH, RIGHT!!!! Then he feels guilty that she hasn't married and he feels honor bound to beg her forgiveness and save her from marrying the villain -- REALLY!! I finally threw the book in the recycle stack. Julie must have been under some deadline to put out a book, because this one was not up to her normal standards.

Solicitor Jack Fairchild has a reputation for providing his services free of charge to the needy. He also has a reputation as a rake. When inherited debts drive Jack to escape London, he vows to change his life. In the small community of Middledale he will accept only paying clients, and he will ignore the few ladies available. Then he meets the lovely Miss Liza Cranshaw. She has agreed to wed a most ignoble nobleman, and Jack refuses to allow such a travesty. If he must seduce her to prevent the wedding, so be it. Liza recognizes Jack as the man who bestowed her first kiss during her seasons in London. For years she had refused to wed but now a blackmailer leaves her no choice. With a solicitor's help she might bring the blackmailer to justice for his crimes against a local family. However, she must first overcome Jack's aversion to taking a client who cannot pay. Jack and Liza are a pleasure to watch. The secondary characters provide great amusement and bring the town of Middledale to life. With its small-town setting and solicitor hero, the story stands out from the average Regency. Julie Beard provides the perfect mix of humor and passion.

I debated about giving this book 3 or 4 stars. Three & 1/2 would have been best. No, it's not particularly original and neither the plot nor the characters will haunt you for any length of time. This story features little in the way of emotional depth either. However, it is pleasantly diverting, has likeable if somewhat superficial characters, some interesting secondary characters, and a nice twist or two to its sometimes unlikely plot.

Beard's writing races along, pulling the reader into a pleasantly diverting tale with appropriate swiftness. Perhaps the motivations of the characters are not well explained, and the hero's rakish qualities uncertain. But the solicitor hero and the stalwart heroine are a good match. All due to one dance, once kiss? Yes, because she fell in love with him in that moment. Jack's fear -- literally panic attacks -- at the thought of marriage makes for an unusual complication.

It's not Julia Quinn or Teresa Medeiros, but it's a decent read.

Of all the romance genres I read, I enjoy the Regency Period the most. That said, a book like Very Truly Yours challenges that opinion. In fact, I will take a break from Regencies. This book demonstrates there may be little life left to that once enjoyable formula.

This is the first Julie Beard book I have attempted to read. I say attempted because I couldn't finish it. The primary characters were so lifeless and boring that even the more lifeless and more boring secondary characters couldn't make them interesting by comparison.

Jack Fairchild is the typical London rake. To avoid his debtor as long as possible, Jack moves to the country to begin life anew as a solicitor. He encounters Liza Cranshaw and is instantly smitten. At first, he fails to remember that they had shared a dance several years prior during one of her London seasons, an event that she does not forget. Apparently the one dance they shared ruined all other men for Liza, and if it weren't for a pesky blackmailer, she wouldn't marry at all. What a dancer that Jack Fairchild must be.

What follows is a jumbled mess of a plot that involves misdirected mail, resulting postal fraud, and debtors prison. Sound interesting? It isn't. The story is listless; it should have been compelling, but wasn't.

I left this book at the yard sale of someone I don't even know. If they can get even 50 cents for it, that is more than I got out of it.

This story had it all for me: a dashing, rake of a hero, a noble yet innocent heroine, a trusty side-kick and a plot that both kept me turning the pages and brought a tear to my eye. Yet Julie Beard always has a way of making familiar elements unique and memorable. Loved it!